Merry Christmas

‘Twas the night before Christmas and Santa’s a wreck.

How to live in a world – that’s politically correct?

His workers no longer would answer to Elves,

Vertically Challenged they were calling themselves.

And labor conditions at the north pole

Were alleged by the union to stifle the soul.

Four reindeer had vanished, without much propriety,

Released to the wilds by the Humane Society.

And equal employment had made it quite clear

That Santa had better not use just reindeer.

So Dancer and Donner, Comet and Cupid,

Were replaced with 4 pigs, and that looked darned stupid!

The runners had been removed from his sleigh;

The ruts were termed dangerous by the E. P. A.

And people had started to ring for the cops

When they heard loud noises upon their rooftops.

Secondhand smoke from his pipe had workers all frightened.

His fur-trimmed red suit was judged `Unenlightened’.

And to show you the strangeness of life’s ebbs and flows,

Rudolf was suing over unauthorized use of his nose

And had gone on Geraldo, in front of the whole nation,

Demanding millions of bucks for `just’ compensation.

So, half of the reindeer were gone; and his wife,

Who suddenly said she’d enough of this life,

Joined a self-help group, packed, and left in a whiz,

Demanding from now on her title was Ms.

And as for the gifts, why, he’d ne’er had a notion

That making a choice could cause so much commotion.

Nothing of leather, nothing of fur,

Which meant nothing for him. And nothing for her.

Nothing that might be construed to pollute.

Nothing to aim. Nothing to shoot.

Nothing that clamored or made lots of noise.

Nothing for just girls. Or just for the boys.

Nothing that claimed to be gender specific.

Nothing that’s warlike or non-pacific.

No candy or sweets, they were bad for the tooth.

Nothing that seemed to embellish a truth.

And fairy tales, while not yet forbidden,

Were like Ken and Barbie, better off hidden.

For they raised the hackles of those psychological

Who claimed the only good gift was one ecological.

No baseball, no football, someone could get hurt

Besides, playing sports exposes kids to dirt.

Dolls were said to be sexist and should be passé

And Nintendo would rot your poor brain away.

So Santa just stood there, disheveled, perplexed

He just could not figure out what to do next.

He tried to be merry, tried to be gay,

But you’ve got to be careful with that word today.

His sack was quite empty, limp to the ground

Nothing fully acceptable was to be found.

Something special was needed, a gift that he might

Give to all without angering the left or the right.

A gift that would satisfy, with no indecision,

Each group of people, every religion;

Every ethnicity, every hue.

Everyone, everywhere-even you.

So here is that gift, it’s price beyond worth.

May you and your loved ones enjoy peace on earth.

Merry Christmas! Happy Holidays!